7th Grade The Outsiders

S.E. Hinton's 1967 novel was one of the first novels "for teenagers, about teenagers, written by a teenager." This novel changed the way teens read, and since then they have demanded stories that reflect their realities.
(Dale Peck)

Center Activity #1

American Cultural History

1. Click on the link above and read the introductory paragraph; then read the Facts About this Decade, what was the minimum wage in 1960?
2. Compare the minimum wage to the 2012 scale.
3. Look at the table below, how have prices changed since 1967? Do you think the increases are greatest in necessities or luxuries?
4. How do the price increases compare with the minimum wage?

CONSUMER PRICES	1967	2012
3-bedroom house	$17,000	$150,000
New Volkswagen	$1,497	$20,000
5-ounce tube of Crest toothpaste	39 cents	$3.00 for 6.2 ounce
Sirloin steak	89 cents a pound	$5.00 a pound
Hershey chocolate bar	5 cents	$1.00
Regular gasoline	34 cents a gallon	$3.59 cents a gallon

5. Scroll down to the section BOOKS AND LITERATURE - Look at the list of Newbery and Caldecott Award winning books, which books, if any, have you read?
6. Scroll down to the very last section - SPORTS - name 3 sports figures who were well-known at this time.

Center Activity #2 AUTHOR Study

S E Hinton (Susan Eloise)

Refer to Hinton's website for your answers. You need to hover your mouse over the pictures to get in to the sections of her website.
1. Where was Hinton born?
2. Why did she write The Outsiders?
3. Hinton suffered from a 3 year long episode of "writers block" what do you think that means?
4. How did her future husband help her to break this block.
5. List 2 other titles that S E Hinton wrote.